Monday, January 30, 2012
Phillips Sevier Park: A Review
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Mon, Jan 30, 2012 at 5:15 AM
Size of Park: Large
Crowds: Heavy
Approximate Age of Patrons: All ages
Topics of Conversation: "Down, Chester! Down!"
Stray Dogs Seen: Impossible to tell which dogs were running loose stray and which dogs were just running loose.
Types of Vehicles in Parking Lots: All kinds.
Perceived Safety: Medium high
Number of Gunshots Heard: None
Dog Friendliness: Perhaps too friendly
Number of pitbulls sighted: None
Accessibility: There are some challenges. A lot of the park is accessible, but parts are not.
Incorporation of Local History: Considering that we don't have an official, designated battlefield, it'd be nice if there were more.
Recommended Patrons: Children, people who want their children to be eaten by dogs
If you are not every once in a while hanging out in Sevier Park, you are missing out. Just in terms of people-watching, it's great. I saw two country-goth folks (which I did not even know was a thing until I saw them) by the community center. There was a couple in a hammock behind the house. There were a bunch of people inexplicably standing in the creek, for reasons I couldn't ever discern. And the number of little kids was just ridiculous. I met one little guy who was right at that stage where he'd clearly learned to walk, but still held his arms out almost perpendicular to his body to do it. He was grinning at everyone like, "I can walk!" Adorable.
The house, Sunnyside, could use a coat of paint, but is in otherwise good repair. If you're curious about antebellum architecture, this is a good spot to get right up by the house and really take a look at how things are put together. I was wishing I had a historian with me, though, because I couldn't identify any of the outbuildings except the chapel. The outbuildings are all in various states of disrepair, which is too bad — because as much as that part of Tennessee's history is not pleasant, it is our history and we shouldn't let the parts we're not comfortable with crumble. We don't know what from the past the future might need.
One thing to check out is behind the chapel. There's a rock on a brick base, and on the top of it is a carved triangle with a carved compass in the middle. I don't know what that is, but after watching the History Channel all weekend, I can only assume it's some kind of ancient alien wisdom.
This land was between the Union and Confederate lines. It would be nice if there was a little Civil War interpretive stuff here, but there's not.
Still, all in all, the park itself is one of my favorite parks in Nashville ... with one caveat. I saw something at Sevier Park so assholish that I literally wonder if the dog owners in Sevier Park have lost their damn minds.
But this time, I saw at least three dogs off-leash on the hill between the house and the playground. (There was also a German Shepherd who might have been off-leash, but I didn't get close enough to see for sure.) And these were big dogs, at least two of whom I saw for myself did not recall well. One took having its name shouted at least three times. The other didn't respond to its name at all.
There should be no dogs off-leash at Sevier Park at all. But anyone who would let a dog who won't come when it's called off its leash near a bunch of children and dogs it doesn't know should not be allowed to own a dog. That shows a lack of judgment.
That situation is completely unsafe for the children and other dogs. Any dog will bite under the right circumstances and the "right" circumstances almost always involve strange children or strange dogs. But these folks take their dogs right to a place that has both these things in abundance and then let them off their leashes. Unbelievable.
I repeat: Sevier Park is a great park. But if dog owners can't follow the rules — or at least break the rules with more damn sense — they're going to ruin it for everyone.
Comments (12)
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The little log house in Sevier Park is said to be the oldest log structure in Nashville, built by the French for trade with Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians.
Also I think the 12 South Farmers Market is the best because of the shade trees and the covered picnic area.
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Hmm: I thought this was the oldest -- http://www.buchananloghouse.com/architectu…
Maybe it's a matter of semantics -- the Buchanan house being the oldest "continuously occupied"? Sometimes I really hate historians. Love history; just can't stand historians.
The first person to tell me that was a friend who participated in some restoration work on the Sevier Park cabin. This citation says it "may be" the oldest. Who knows?
http://www.bonps.org/tour/sunnyside.htm
SmoothyBobo, I wondered if it was some kind of dwelling, but it didn't have a fireplace, so I wonder how they handled cooking. I took a ton of pictures of all the buildings if people are curious: http://tinycatpants.wordpress.com/2012/01/… . And I will say that, of all the outbuildings, the log cabin is in the best shape, so, if it really is that old, that's a testament to what a good method of construction it is.
Don't ask, I think you're probably right--the Buchanan house has been continuously lived in and still retains its look. I doubt anyone has lived in the shack in Sevier park since the Emancipation proclamation.
Well, the chapel is in better shape than the log cabin. But of the wooden outbuildings, the log cabin is in the best shape.
When the block is that big, yes. I mean, Edwin Warner Park is just a block big. Should I, when the time comes classify it as something other than large?
If you find the park lacking in incorporation of local history, stop by during the week when the antebellum home in the middle of the park serves as the offices of the Metro Historical Commission.
FYI- As far as I know the stone building with the Greek-revival portico was originally an office, not a chapel. Also, the giant Battle of Nashville monument is about two blocks (big blocks) South of the park.
Hey Sean, even with the little room behind the fireplace? Ha, well, you can tell I was raised in a parsonage. I see a small building with windows on three sides and a room you can get into and not out of at the far end of it and I think "church."
Okay, so let it be stated for the record, I didn't know what any of the outbuildings were.
Oh, and there's a description of some of the buildings on the MHC website. http://www.nashville.gov/mhc/where_we_are.…
Apparently the "stone office" (the columned) was built in the late 20s by the Sevier family. And the main house is actually built on the framing of the earlier log house.
Man, when I'm done with this park review stuff, I want to try to get with someone who can answer all of my questions. I wonder if I can commandeer a historian for the day to tell me about all the stuff in the parks. This whole discussion is just feeding my curiosity. The house isn't L-shaped now. But I wonder if that white building out back has the log house in it or if it is the main house. I thought the white building might have been a kitchen.
